27 Years
by EllaCollinsDash
Summary: The Fighter: Dicky's life and love in the years following Micky's big win. Not as much swearing as in the movie... Please read and review, I'm working really hard...
1. Remembering

**Copyright: I do not own any aspect of **_**The Fighter**_**… though, I do wish I had some part of Marky Mark…. ;)**

**I know it's a little far fetched to do a fictional story for **_**The Fighter**_** since it's based on a true story and all. But I absolutely loved the movie and had an idea for a story. It's a little detailed and kind of out there, but I hope I don't get too much criticism. But this is the place to go to post all of your random ideas, right? (: Anyway, the story is about mainly about Dicky and his life and love after the movie ended. I'm counting this chapter as an introduction. The story will come along after this chapter which might be kind of short considering it's an intro and I'm on a bit of a time limit. So without further adieu, I present to you the intro… enjoy (:**

Her bright smile shines through the old television set, illuminating the dark family room. The home videos I watch bring back all sorts of memories in an overwhelming flood—I see my younger brother training for a match. He still had a head full of hair and a determined look on his face. I see my mother, alive and trying to take charge of her nine adult children's lives, which she unfailingly succeeded at many times. I see each of my children in their early years when they still needed me to hold their hands and tie their shoes.

But the person I see the most is my late wife who I gave the past twenty-seven years of my life to. And regardless of the trouble or the hardships we faced, I don't regret a second of it. She was the strangest, craziest, most overbearing woman I've met in my entire life. And I loved her more than anything. Understanding, gentle, and kind, she saw through my past and gave me a future.

These videos that I filmed over the past couple of decades bring me back to a happier time. The sun seemed to shine brighter, the people seemed to smile bigger, and this old town seemed to have more energy and togetherness. I would do nearly anything to rewind time and relive the past twenty-something years the exact same way I did the first time—but with a happier ending. Because now, all I feel is pain.

I turn off the videos that seem almost ancient to me and sit in the dark room. I glance at the clock—it's 3:42 a.m. I close my sixty year old eyes and take myself back to a time when my life seemed to be perfect….

**Well, that's the intro! I told you it would probably be short, but I hope it went well… If you're like me and looked in **_**The Fighter**_** section hoping to find a story, please leave a review telling me what you think so far… even though there's not much to review yet. I'll update soon (if my schedule allows it). Thanks (:**


	2. Meet Vanessa

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**Hello! Here is where the official story begins… The way I write the story makes it detailed and different from the movie and obviously real life. It's actually very unrealistic I admit but it's a fictional story so anything goes I guess… In the story, Micky won the title in 1992 (even though in real life he won it in 2000). The story begins in 1993, Dicky is 33 and Micky is 28. They still live in Lowell and Micky still boxes. Dicky has been clean for three years and still trains his brother with O'Keefe. Dicky's son, Dicky Jr., is going to be known as DJ, who is going to be 4. I think that's all the major information that I need to point out for now…**

Dicky leisurely walked along a crowded Lowell street on a warm, mid August day around noon. He was in no hurry to meet his mother and younger brother for brunch at the local Club Diner, although he was already running late. It was about a twenty minute walk from his house to Club Diner. He had enough money to buy his own small house after Micky's big win, and even had enough for a car. He had a 1990 Honda Accord that ran well, but he would rather walk than drive any day.

The past year had been great for Dicky—he got a small house, he got custody of his four year old son for every other weekend, he had money, and he felt healthier and more alive than he had felt in the past ten years. He actually felt happy, his life was balanced.

He approached the door of the diner and spotted Alice and Micky sitting in a booth in the corner. He walked over to them with a relaxed smile as they noticed he had finally shown.

"There you are, we've been waiting a half hour for you, Dick. Where the hell were you?" Alice asked her oldest son. She had seven daughters and only two sons, so she was always looking out for them the most.

"I had a busy morning." He said simply. His morning honestly wasn't too busy—he woke up around 7 and cleaned up his house. Then, he went for a long run and showered. He loved started his day like this whenever he could. Then, Micky spoke.

"Busy as in lost track of the time?" Micky said with a little smile.

"Don't let it happen again when you have plans with your family, Dicky. I told you to meet us here at 11:30." Alice nagged.

"I know, I know. It's just a long walk, that's all."

"Dicky, you have a car. You know what; I'm done talking about it. I don't wanna listen to excuses." When Alice was done talking the small group sat there for a few quiet moments. Dicky looked around the place and saw that nothing special was going on in the diner today. He and his family ate their frequently, and the place always had the same people eating there, the same people sitting at the bar, and the same coffee scent. Suddenly, Alice spoke again.

"So on the way over here Micky and I saw an old friend of yours." Alice's words made Dicky wonder who they saw. "That old girlfriend of yours, Donna is her name I think?"

"Oh. Yeah, Donna. I haven't seen her in years." Dicky uncomfortably, but casually responded to his mother. He and Donna were together about ten years ago, but they broke up after a string of arguments and just growing apart. About a year later, she moved to New York.

"Good. She was a bitch." Alice confidently told him, even though it wasn't necessarily true. Donna was a nice lady and the rest of the family liked her when she and Dicky were together.

"Alice, she wasn't a bitch. Everyone liked her, right Mick?"

"She was alright. But if she was so great you would have stayed together."

"Well it wasn't just her, it was me. And maybe I'll run into her while she's in town. We'll see if she's still so great." Dicky said with a smirk while Alice glared.

"No, man, I wouldn't do that. She had a wedding ring on." Micky said while Alice scoffed.

"I have pity on the man who married that skank. Do you remember the one time she ate over for dinner and she—" Suddenly, she was cut off by the waitress who came to the table.

"Hi, can I take your order?" The waitress asked kindly, but she seemed like she didn't want to be there. She had light brown hair that was carelessly fixed into a messy bun and she barely wore any make up on her face. She had deep green eyes and the name tag on her Club's Diner waitress uniform read 'Vanessa'.

Micky started to give her his order, but Alice interrupted him to complain. "Excuse me; can you see that we're trying to have a conversation?" Alice asked the waitress irritably.

The waitress seemed a little intimidated by Alice. She responded, "Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to come back in a few minutes?" Alice was about to bluntly tell her yes when Dicky spoke.

"No, it's fine. You're already here. Finish your order, Mick." When Dicky said this, Alice gave him a dirty look. She knew her son and she knew that he was only being nice because he was attracted to her. Within a minute or so, they all gave her their orders and she left the table.

Immediately after the waitress left, Alice completely forget about her Donna story and started babbling about random occurrences that her sons couldn't care less about. Dicky listened to his mother at first, but soon started to drift off. He saw their waitress standing behind the counter. It looked like she was taking notes or writing something. Either way, she seemed really focused, like she was thinking real hard about what she was doing. Dicky thought she was beautiful, even when her hair was falling in her face and she was wearing the cheesy waitress outfit for Club's. Suddenly, he realized that his mother had been snapping at him from across the table for about a minute.

"Dicky, hello! He then blankly looked at Alice. "Hi, this is your mother talking to you. Stop checking out our waitress." She ordered sternly. Alice always seemed to know what her children were thinking, but she didn't always have the best way of handling it.

"Come on, I wasn't checking her out." Dicky was lying and Alice and Micky both knew it.

"Yes, you were!" They replied at the same time. They looked at each other and only Alice spoke next. "Dicky, I know my kids, and I know you were checking her out. I'm not a moron, so don't lie. But cut it out, she's a dumb waitress. You don't need to get involved with another bimbo."

"Yeah, yeah, I know mom. I can only look at girls that you approve of. Not that there is such a thing."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Mom, neither me nor Dicky have ever dated a girl that you approved of." Micky pointed out, and he was right.

"That's because you guys can't find a good girl in this town."

"Well I'm with Charlene, I have been for a while now and I love her. I think she's a great girl. Why can't we just be with who we want to be with? You don't have to date them or anything."

"Well it's really upsetting to see my only two sons who I worked so hard to raise dating some dumb MTV girl."

"Well it's really annoying that we as grown men can't even look at a girl without our mother snapping at us."

"You say what you want, Micky. But I raised you boys better than to be running around with stupid girls."

Then, the waitress brought over the food. The boys thanked her, but Alice didn't say a word. The family ate in a slightly uncomfortable silence. However, the beautiful waitress kept catching Dicky's eye over the course of the meal.

…

Soon enough, they finished their meals. It took about ten minutes to eat, but it felt like longer. Dicky saw the waitress still behind the counter, where they had the desserts. He thought about an excuse he could use to go up there and talk to her—he pondered getting himself a slice of pie or something, but then decided on getting something for his son, DJ.

"Hey, I'm gonna go up there and pick out a treat for DJ." Dicky smoothly said, hoping his mom wouldn't figure out the real reason why he was going up there.

Of course, Alice realized his plan and tried to mess with him before confronting him. "I have ice cream at my house." She said with a smart tone.

"Yeah, but I want to give him something from his dad. Is that okay with you?" Dicky said playing around his words.

Alice wasn't sure how to respond to it, which surprised them. Micky watched the two of them as they watched each other, working to outplay each other in a discrete battle of words. Eventually, Alice spoke and she didn't even fight back. "Fine, I need a smoke." And she slid out of the booth, went outside of the diner, and lit a cigarette.

"Well are you gonna talk to her or what?" Micky asked his brother after a couple moments.

"Yeah, I guess. But this really is for DJ. Me talking to her is just a side, you know." Dicky said trying to play it cool.

He got out of the booth and approached the counter. The waitress noticed him and put down her pencil. "Can I help you?" She said, this time with a genuine-seeming smile.

"Uh, yeah. I was gonna pick out a dessert. I see Club's has a new collection." He said with a sarcastic grin. Club's had had the same things on the menu since the 70s.

"Well, it's all pretty new to me. I've only been here for a couple weeks."

"Yeah, I noticed." He was suddenly embarrassed and wondered if that seemed creepy. But she laughed a little so he figured he was okay. "I mean, I'm here a lot so I didn't recognize you."

"It's okay, I understand." She said with a smile. They both looked down at the dessert rack for a moment and then looked back up at each other.

"So where are you from?" Dicky asked trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"Originally, I'm from Connecticut. But I just came from New York City." She explained.

"So what made you move from big, glamorous New York City to Lowell?" He asked again in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, in New York I was trying to get my music sold. I'm a songwriter and musician—aspiring, I guess." Dicky looked over and saw the papers she was working so diligently on before had a bunch of words, musical notes, and eraser markings on them.

"Oh, so that's what you were working on before." Dicky said as he pointed to her papers.

"Wow, so you've really been watching me today, haven't you?" She said with a playful smile. He was a little embarrassed at this, but she didn't seem to care. She was playing along with him and didn't take things too seriously like a lot of girls did. He liked that about her.

"Darn it, you noticed. I was hoping to continue but I blew my own cover." When he said this, she laughed and then continued talking.

"But yeah, Lowell's not too bad. I'm just looking to settle down for a little while in a small town. Preferably a town with really nice, funny, attractive guys. And I think I got that here." He didn't realize it at first but she was flirting with him. "However, I'm still not very familiar with the city. Maybe you could show me around sometime?"

"Yeah, I would love to." He said and was happy that she was interested in him. They smiled at each other for a moment and then she spoke again.

"So, you wanted dessert?"

"Oh, yeah. Can I have a slice of blueberry pie to go…" He cued for her to say her name.

"I'm Vanessa. Vanessa Mills. And yes, you can…." Vanessa smiled and cued back.

"Dicky. Dicky Eklund." He said with a smiled back at her. But when he said his name and put his hand for her to shake, her smile faded. She cleared her throat and got the box for the pie wordlessly. Realizing she wasn't going to shake his hand, Dicky put his hand down and sensed that something was wrong.

"Is everything okay?" He asked confusedly.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Here's your pie." She handed the box that contained the pie to him.

"Okay…well, I guess I'll see you soon and we can discuss when I could show you around a little. Or we could just exchange numbers—"

"It's okay. You don't have to show me around anymore." She said icily.

He decided to confront her about it. "Okay, did I say or do something? Because all of a sudden you're acting kind of snooty. You seemed pretty nice before. And I'm a nice guy, I like to think anyway."

"It's okay, I know who you are." She said without looking up.

"Excuse me?" Dicky was confused.

Vanessa looked up and said, "I know that Dicky Eklund used to be a boxer and now he trains his little brother, who's pretty good. I know that he is a druggie, a con, and a criminal. And I know that he had an HBO special on a couple years ago about crack and it disgraced Lowell and his family. I know his reputation, and now I know that he's you." Dicky felt incredibly hurt by her words. But even if something happened between them, she would have to find out at some point. But before Dicky knew what to say there was a moment of awkward silence.

"First of all, that was all true. I was a druggie and I was in jail. But I'm not him anymore. I'm in shape, I still train my brother, and I gained back my reputation in this town. Where did you hear all that from?"

"Why does it matter? I like to know about where I'm moving. And I'm sorry, but I'm not interested." Vanessa said very honestly.

"Well it seemed like you were interested in me before you knew my name."

"So what?"

"So…that means something right? I'm a good guy now. You can ask my brother, he's sitting over there. Or my mom—never mind, don't ask my mom." He knew his mother would tell Vanessa anything to keep her away. That, or she would tell Vanessa off for criticizing her son.

"I don't need to ask anyone about you, because I know the truth."

"I just don't feel that it's right. You don't really know me. Haven't you ever heard the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover'?"

"Well I already know everything I need to know about the book. And it's just not a good read." When Vanessa said this to him, it made Dicky sneer.

"Psh, okay, that's real cute. Nice play on words. That's just…great." Dicky said sarcastically as he scoffed.

"Okay, well you got your pie so you can go now. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, you too. I'm glad we're friends; you're a dime, really. I mean that. So kind and accepting. Welcome to Lowell!" He said as he walked back across the diner to where his brother was sitting.

"That went great." Dicky said sarcastically as he sat down across from brother, who he knew had watched, but not heard, the whole thing.

"Yeah, she was definitely into you at first. But then you started talking and it just went downhill from there. As usual."

"Shut up Mick. She liked me at first. We almost had a date. But once I told her my name, forget it. She's all hooked up on my "reputation". She doesn't even know."

"She's just not worth it. If she can't accept you then she doesn't deserve you. Forget her." Micky encouraged.

"You know, I was thinking about that. But I think I might reinforce the fact that she did like me. I just wanna prove that I'm right, and changed, and perfectly capable of having a pretty girl be interested in me."

"Go for it." Micky said and continued with a question after taking another sip of his coffee, "So if she does wind up liking you, are you just gonna go out with her or just tell her to beat it?"

"Eh, we'll see what kind of mood I'm in." Dicky decided, and just then they heard their mother calling them from the door.

"Dicky! Micky! Let's go!" She practically yelled across the diner. At that, the boys finished off their beverages and left a mediocre tip for Vanessa. As they were passing the front counter on their way to the exit, Vanessa was still standing there and she said one last thing to them before they left the diner.

"Thank you for eating at Club's!" She exclaimed with a phony smile as she waved goodbye.

The family left and as they walked down the sidewalk, Alice thought about how Vanessa had said goodbye to them. Without even knowing what had happened with Vanessa and her son, she said exactly what she would have said if she knew.

"What a bitch."

**The end of the first chapter (: It took a little while, but I'm glad that I'm done. I'm sick today so I finally got the chance to finish this long chapter, and I think I'll start the next one =) Please leave reviews and keep posted for the next chapter! Thanks!**


	3. Old Friend

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be here ;)**

**Hello there, I'm not exactly sure how this chapter is gonna go….is that bad? Honestly, I've been putting it off…I have the next few chapters planned, but this one…nada. So don't be surprised if this is really bad, random, or short ;) Enjoy…**

It had been three weeks and Dicky's plans still hadn't had the effects on Vanessa that he hoped. He had been to Club's almost every day, like he did even before she was an employee, to have a cup of coffee or pick up food. Vanessa had been there almost every time he had shown up. They engaged in small talk here and there, but that went no where. He had done his fair share of mild flirting, but she wouldn't budge. Finally, Dicky settled on an ultimatum: if she didn't have any interest in him within a week, he would stop pursuing her. After all, he didn't want to appear stalker-like.

It was Monday morning and Dicky was scheduled to train his brother. On his way to the gym, he decided to stop at the diner for a cup of coffee—he was feeling a little run down after having his energetic son all weekend. He was still adapting to being a father and quickly learned that four year olds have their own random schedule, set of rules, and undying liveliness that could tire even a guy who boxes for a living.

Dicky opened the door to the diner and saw that the usual morning people were present, eating their eggs and bacon and sipping their fresh coffee. Vanessa wasn't in her usual place at the counter or waiting tables, so he assumed she was in the kitchen or something. However, none of the other employees were in sight. He decided to wait up front for someone who worked there to show.

He stood by the counter and then heard a familiar female voice come from behind him. "Dicky?" He turned around to see a face he wasn't particularly happy to see.

"Karen! Hey…haven't seen you in a while." Karen was Dicky's ex-girlfriend. They were together for most of Dicky's second stint with drugs. She lived with a few other addicts in the avocado green house that brought back ugly memories whenever Dicky saw it. When they were together, she was everything he wanted—she was pretty, had his sense of humor, and she wouldn't judge him because of the fact that they were both on drugs. However, when he was sober Karen was everything that he didn't want. She was a mess and he didn't need her distracting him and taking time from his job, his son, and getting his life back on track. The last he heard she moved to Cleveland a couple years ago.

"No kidding! Wow, you look great." She complimented him and seemed genuinely impressed.

Dicky motioned towards her. "Yeah, you too," he lied. She looked like she hadn't stopped doing drugs—if anything her usage became more intense—and he wouldn't be shocked if she was still involved with prostitution and crime. "Cleveland didn't work out?" He asked as he saw Vanessa stroll out from the back. She briefly looked at him and Karen without stopping and then continued waiting on the customers.

Dicky refocused his attention on Karen and noticed that she was playing with her dark, greasy-looking hair as she spoke, which Dicky knew was what she did when she was flirting. "Not really…I missed it here. I missed you." She tried to have her bloodshot eyes meet with his clear ones, but he looked away as soon as he realized what she was trying to do. She then attempted to grab his hand, but he pulled it away. She noticed that he was being very standoffish. "What's wrong? Didn't you miss me? I haven't even been able to congratulate you on your brother's win. You've been ignoring me. You've been ignoring all of us—Brenda, Boo Boo…Don't you miss us?"

"I've been busy, that's all," was all he said, hoping it would be enough to make her leave. Honestly, he had been avoiding all of the housemates. He was afraid of being sucked back into being an addict. That was the last thing he needed. Vanessa then returned to her spot behind the counter and busied herself with the coffee maker. Dicky assumed that she was listening.

"Too busy for your good old friends?" Come on, we were by your side even when your stupid family wasn't."

"Well thanks for that. But I have to grab some coffee and go to work. It was nice to see you." He hoped she would just give up on the chat.

"Really? What happened to the old Dicky. Screw work, let's have fun. Come on…" She tried to persuade.

"No thanks." He wished she would just go. But Karen just grabbed his arm and begged him to stop by the house. He pulled his arm away and made it obvious that he wasn't interested. This went on for a few more minutes, all with Vanessa listening intently. Not knowing how to make it any clearer, Dicky was thankful when he heard Vanessa join the conversation.

"Excuse me, miss. Can I help you? Because you have been in here a good fifteen minutes and you haven't ordered a thing. All you're doing is bothering this customer and annoying the rest of the place." Vanessa said point blank as Karen stared as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"I'd appreciate it if you would stay out of our conversation, bitch. I don't think that's any of your business."

"Maybe not. But I'm an employee and it's my job to control the people here. And it's an order that I get rid of anyone who's not a customer.

"Well I don't have any money. Dicky, you wanna lend me a few? We could have a beer or something right?"

"I need my coffee and then I'm going to work." He said sternly as Karen realized that he really wasn't interested in her.

"Whatever, it's your loss. You're no fun anymore. Have the old Dicky call me sometime. Otherwise go screw yourself." She said as she exited the diner. Dicky watched her walk away, relieved that she was gone. Then he remembered the reason that she left—Vanessa had practically kicked her out. He looked at her and saw she went back to toying with the coffee maker.

Vanessa noticed that he was staring at her. "What are you looking at me for?" She said as if she had forgotten what had just happened.

"Nothing, just…thanks for getting rid of her."

"That wasn't for you, you know. She was just annoying the hell out of me."

He showed a little grin and said, "I noticed."

"Who was she anyway?" The question made Dicky wonder how to put it. Vanessa already knew his past so there was no point in lying. And maybe the fact that he wanted to stay away from her would prove that he was totally over his drug filled past.

He decided to tell the truth, "I guess you could say she's my ex-girlfriend."

"Prostitute?"

"No—well yeah, but not mine. She and a couple other people were my friends a few years ago. But I'm not sure you could say we had a relationship. We were always high so I don't know how I felt about her. We had fun…but uh, I don't want to go back to being like that. I've got more now. And she could too. I mean she's probably a great person sober…but I'll probably never find out. I guess I'm lucky I'm clean. I think the jail time really showed me what's important. I wouldn't change a thing." When he finished speaking, Dicky realized that he'd said more than he intended to—he'd almost been rambling without even thinking the words through. But when he looked at Vanessa he saw that she was really listening to him. He didn't know what this meant—maybe she was seeing that he wasn't a bad guy after all…or maybe he just scared her more. He couldn't tell if she was judging him or admiring his words.

He waited for her to say something, but she didn't. She just looked at him for another short moment, finished the coffee, and poured a cup. "Here's your coffee," she said as she held out her arm for him to take it. He took the coffee and paid her, and without another word left the diner and finally made his way to the gym—praying he didn't see Karen on the way.

…..

It was a few hours after the diner incident and Dicky was busy training his only brother. He hadn't told Micky yet that he had seen Karen, Vanessa had dissed her, and that he'd said a little too much to Vanessa. He wasn't sure if he should tell him, but he felt like he needed his brother's advice.

As he was boxing with his brother, Dicky was able to relax a little. To Dicky, boxing was a way out of his troubles. He could really think things through and everything seemed clearer and simpler. He was able to let all of his anger, angst, and emotion. He felt like boxing was his passion. He really believed that if he didn't get mixed in with drugs, he could have gone far in his boxing career. But that was meant for his brother, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

After finishing with the boxing and having Micky work the jump rope for a while, the brothers decided to take a little break. The sat down on the benches across from the ring, water bottles in hand. Dicky thought this would be a good time to talk to his brother about his interesting morning.

"So uh, you'll never guess who I ran into at the diner this morning," Dicky started.

"Karen?" Micky said as if he saw the whole thing happen. Dicky was surprised that he guessed right.

"How'd you know that, Mick?" Dicky wondered out loud.

"I saw her last week at the bar. Charlene was working so I stopped by to see her, and Karen came up to me. I'm shocked she even knew who I was—I met her what? Twice? Maybe even once. But she was really out of it and kept asking about you."

Dicky questioned why his brother didn't tell him about the encounter. "Why didn't you tell me she was back?"

"I was going to, but I didn't know if it was a good idea. I wasn't sure if you would want to see her or if you would be paranoid about her being back in town. I figured that if you saw her you could handle it your way." Micky explained himself, but Dicky didn't see any logic in his reasoning.

"Well I wouldn't want to see her. And I wish I had fair warning that she was back."

"Sorry, I guess I should have told you. What happened with her anyway?"

"She just snuck up on me. It's like she was only in there 'cause she saw me. But she was a mess. And she kept trying to convince me to go hang out with her or have a drink. I told her I had to be here, but she wouldn't give it up."

"So how'd you finally get rid of her?"

"It wasn't really me that got rid of her…you remember that one waitress?"

"The flirty one that you stalk?" Micky said with a completely serious look on his face, even though Dicky thought he would crack a smile at this.

"Her name is Vanessa, and stalk is a very strong word. Plus, she doesn't like me, remember? I have a "bad reputation"." Dicky responded being completely serious in return.

"Yeah, yeah," he said this time showing a little smile, "just finish the story, we gotta get back to work."

"Okay, so Vanessa is "working" behind the counter overhearing me try to get rid of Karen for like five or ten minutes, right? So Vanessa cuts in and tells her that she's annoying the customers and that she needs to buy something or leave. She didn't have any money—big shocker there—so she tries to get a few out of me but I tell her no. So she left. And it was all because Vanessa told her off."

"Ballsy woman you got there, Dick," Micky joked.

"Oh, shut up. She said she did it because Karen was annoying the hell out of her, which I could see being true."

"Well it sounds like you had a great morning," Micky continued to joke, "now let's get back to training." He said as he sat up and got ready to continue with his boxing practice.

Dicky, however, remained sitting. "There's a little more to my morning," he confessed.

Micky sat back down and braced himself for whatever Dicky was about to spring on him. "What else happened?"

Dicky told his brother how Vanessa had asked who she was and how Dicky said way too much. He practically recited the exact words he had said to her. He finished his story with saying how things were really awkward afterwards.

Micky sat for a moment thinking about what this all meant. "Well what are you assuming she was thinking?"

"I don't know if she respected me because of it or if I just freaked her out."

"Well what does it matter if she is freaked out? Do you like her and want her to think highly of you?"

"I don't know what to think about her. When we first met we had chemistry and she wanted to get to know me. But after knowing my name, she assumed she already knew everything about me. And I don't know if we could have been anything or if I want us to be anything. But I just want her to see that she was wrong about me and that she shouldn't just jump to conclusions about people. It bothers the hell out of me."

"I get it, man. But women hate admitting that they're wrong…so good luck with that."

"She doesn't have to admit it or say that she was wrong out loud. I just want her to show it. But she's so confusing. She doesn't act like she hates me. She talks to me sometimes and she's not a total bitch. But she still stands by what she said about me before."

"Well I don't know what to tell you…sorry. But I'm done talking about girl problems…come on, let's box. Later we'll do some man stuff—get a beer and watch the Celtics game."

"You got it, man." Dicky agreed to his brother's offer, but wasn't feeling as excited as he usually would. He didn't feel like this girl should be such a big deal to him, but for some reason it was. And he felt pathetic about it, but he couldn't shake it.

The brothers prepared to step back into the gym's cheap ring to continue practice, as if the conversation had never even happened.

**Chapter 3 is finished…This should have been up a while ago, but over spring break I totally blew this off =P Like I said before, I had no clue what to do for this chapter, and I was basically making this up as I wrote…so it's not very well thought through, but it works (: Hope you like it…chapter 4 will hopefully be up sometime next week! Review if you liked it, or didn't, or if you have suggestions…I'm open to criticism (:**


	4. Fighting

**Well I don't really have much to say…I don't own **_**The Fighter**_**, just in case you assumed otherwise ;)**

**By the way, thank you Straight Edge Queen for reading and reviewing! You're my motivation (: You and the fact that I have nothing better to do in my spare time =]**

It was Monday night and Dicky and Micky went through with their plans to watch the Celtics game. They went to the town bar where they were known as regulars. Charlene wasn't working that night, and Dicky was honestly a little happy that she wasn't. They weren't the best of friends or the worst of enemies, but after three years you would think she'd get a little less annoying and high maintenance.

"My God, rebound the damn ball!" Micky yelled amongst the rest of the men in the bar. They acted as if the players could actually hear them and would follow their commands.

Usually, Dicky would be the first to participate in the pointless banter, but he just wasn't feeling like himself—he honestly hadn't been all day. He tried to think of why he felt this way. Maybe it was just the post DJ drowsiness, or the fact that he'd seen Karen and started thinking about his past.

But he soon realized that those things didn't contribute to his lousy feelings nearly as much as the fact that he had been thinking about the same person for the past few weeks—Vanessa. He didn't know what it was because he didn't think he liked her or anything. But he couldn't understand her at all. She was always sending mixed signals and saying things to mess with his head. He hated that she was so indecisive and kept leading him on and then cutting him off. Dicky knew that women didn't usually just come out and say what they felt. He also knew that women didn't exactly fall head over heels for him. But he wanted—needed—to know what was going on with them. He was tired of wasting his time wondering and trying to make something happen. He decided he should act now while he had the courage—and a couple of drinks in him.

"You know, guys, I've had a long day. I think I'm going to head out, it's getting late." Dicky told the group of men, all mesmerized by the basketball game.

"What? It's only eleven, man. And it's a tied game with, like, 3 minutes left," Micky responded without looking away from the TV.

"I'm just tired, I don't feel great. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

The game cut to a commercial, and Micky looked at his brother this time before he spoke. "You're just going home?"

"Yes, I'm just going home! You don't believe me?" Dicky didn't give Micky a chance to answer. "I'll see you tomorrow." He repeated.

"Well alright, I guess. I'll see you then. Hey, I'll let you know how the game ends tomorrow." Micky said as Dicky sat up. He nodded in response to his brother and headed for the door. Before exiting, he waved goodbye to the bar inhabitants and didn't take the time to see if they returned the gesture. Once he got outside, he turned in the opposite direction of his house to go to Club's Diner.

…

Dicky knew that Club's Diner closed weeknights at eleven, so he didn't know if he had much time. He wasn't even sure if Vanessa would be there since she was working that morning. He figured she was definitely off by now, but it wouldn't hurt checking.

He turned the corner and entered the not-so-busy street the diner was on. He looked across the street and saw that there were a few lights on inside the diner—there was hope. As he approached the diner, he looked in the window and sure enough Vanessa was the only person in the place. She was sitting at a table in the middle of the restaurant and writing something down. She looked like she was deep in thought—the way she looked the day Dicky met her. He figured she was probably working on her music.

Before realizing the door was locked, he tried to pull it open, startling Vanessa. At first, she looked scared, like she thought someone was trying to break in to rob the diner—he guessed she wouldn't know what to do in that case. But once she realized who was trying to get in, Dicky couldn't tell if she looked more confused or angry.

Vanessa just sat there for a moment, staring as if it would somehow make him leave. Dicky made a gesture towards the door and said loud enough so she could hear, "You wanna let me in?"

She closed her notebook and got up from her seat, making Dicky think that she was going to open the door. Instead, she walked up to the door and pointed to the sign on the window. "We're closed!" She shouted and continued, "There's no pie."

"I didn't come for pie. Can I please come in?"

She hesitated for a moment, considering her options, and then walked over to the counter to get the keys. She opened the door for Dicky and he thanked her.

"I didn't think you'd be here still," he said honestly, "I didn't realize you worked mornings and nights."

She took a seat at a different table than where she was sitting before. "Well when you're working your dream job you take as many shifts as possible," she said sarcastically, "or if you have to work that many shifts just to get a decent day's pay," she finished more honestly.

"So you've been here all day? Don't you have stuff to do or, like, a life?" He said jokingly but seriously at the same time.

"Thanks. And no, I haven't been here _all_ day. I worked seven to noon and six to eleven."

"But no life?" He said jokingly, but without showing the humor on his face.

"I do have a life, thank you very much."

"And that's why you're here, sitting alone in an empty diner after your shift ended?"

"Hey, I'm working on my own stuff. It's quiet here, better to work than my noisy apartment building. And you're here too, so I could say the same to you—that you don't have a life," her face suddenly became very serious and she crossed her arms and said, "Which reminds me, why are you here?"

Dicky then realized that he didn't have any idea of what he was going to say to her. She gave him a look that said "well?"

"Uhm, partly because of what happened this morning," he said slowly, trying to make sure he didn't say anything stupid.

"What? With that girl?" She said confusedly.

"Kind of. More like what I said after she left."

"Oh," she said quietly without her expression changing, "What about it?"

"Uh, I don't know. Was that okay?" He didn't know how to ask what he wanted to ask her.

She looked confused. "Uh…I guess? I don't understand what you're asking me."

"Maybe I over thought this, but I'm not sure if anything I said was inappropriate or made you uncomfortable."

"Not really…I'm a big girl. I don't understand what the big deal is."

"It's just that…I don't know if I said too much about my past or my relationship with Karen. I just wanted you to know that I'm not like that anymore at all. And just because my relationship with her wasn't all healthy and shit that doesn't mean I'm not capable of it. Because I am not the same person I was at all. I've changed so much and I just wanted to let you know that and that's why I said those things," He finished hoping he said the right things.

She paused for a moment to process what he had just said. "Why are you telling me all of this, Dicky?"

He thought for a moment of what to say to be completely honest, "Because I don't want you to think that I'm incapable of having a relationship because of who I was."

"Dicky, that's nice, but tell it to the next girl you're interested in—the one who wants to hear it. Because I thought I made it clear that I don't like you like that."

"Well it seemed like it before I told you my name and you assumed you knew me. Before that you were all nice and flirty and even wanted to have a date. But you hear my name and you act like I'm a horrible person because of my past. What, you're perfect? You've never had any problems in your past or anything you're ashamed of? I doubt it. You're not perfect. You're a struggling musician working in a crappy diner in Lowell. So go ahead, judge me, but you're not perfect either," he realized he was getting mad and was raising his voice a little bit.

She spoke quietly, "I never said I was perfect," then got louder, "but I don't see what the big fucking deal is."

"The big deal is that I could tell you like me. Not just when we first met, but you don't seem like you resent me. You always talk to me and act nice but then you stop, like you're making yourself stop and acting like you hate me."

"That's bull, Dicky. What, I can't be nice to a customer? Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I'm going to be a bitch to you. You're totally misreading the situation."

He considered this for a moment. "Maybe I am misinterpreting this. But for now I'm going to stick with my instinct and say that I'm not." He decided to be bold. "Just give me one shot to prove myself."

"To prove what?" Vanessa said even though she knew what he meant.

"That I'm not scum. And that you do like me."

"Oh, you're getting all cocky now, huh?"

"Come on, one shot." Dicky said holding up his pointer finger.

She thought for a minute. "One date?" She asked, possibly considering it.

"Yes. And you don't even have to call it a date."

She thought for another minute or so, and then replied boldly, "No," she stood up from her chair, "and I want you out of this diner before I call the police," she practically yelled at him.

Dicky didn't know what to say, or if he should say anything at all. He just looked at her for a second, shook his head, and followed her command by leaving her at the diner alone.

….

As soon as Dicky left the diner, Vanessa tried to get back to her music. But she couldn't think about anything but what had just happened. She felt so mad—at Dicky, at herself, at the situation. She knew it didn't have to be complicated, but she was the kind of person that tended to make things difficult. She didn't know why, but that's just who she was. And she wished she could stop it.

She didn't know exactly how she felt about Dicky. She considered him to be the closest thing she had to a friend in Lowell so far—a reality that was sad based on the fact that he was merely a customer she saw every day and honestly found him quite annoying for whatever reason.

This whole thing was overly dramatic. Couldn't they just be friends? You couldn't blame Vanessa for not wanting to get involved with a guy that attracted trouble—or at least used to. She knew she wasn't perfect either…she definitely had secrets and reasons for playing it safe.

She didn't know if she liked him or not, but she thought she did based on the brief talk they shared before she lashed out about who he was. Who he _was_ or who he _is_? Did he still do drugs and commit crimes? Or was that who he _was_? Maybe he really was different.

She briefly considered giving him a chance. She thought of why she should give him a shot—he was nice, funny, they got along good on most days, and she was attracted to him. The cons of a date could be her getting hurt or her giving him the wrong idea.

She ultimately dismissed the idea, figured the conversation about it was over with. Maybe he would just forget about the whole idea and things could just go back to normal. Which meant that she was a waitress at Dicky's favorite diner, and nothing more.

Vanessa looked at the clock—it was 11:45. Dicky had left ten or fifteen minutes ago. Since she couldn't focus on her work, Vanessa decided to gather her things, lock up, and go back to her small apartment—a place she refused to call "home".

As she exited the diner and locked the doors, she looked around outside—she saw no one on the streets but a couple holding hands, walking in the opposite direction she was headed towards. How nice. She also noted that there were only a few places open on the block—the Laundromat that had really thinned out in the past couple hours, a grimy, unpopular bar that specialized in scumbags, and Becky's Bistro, a place that looked like it belonged in the 50s and had a menu that only appealed to the elderly.

It felt a little chilly out for being August, Vanessa thought. She was trying to think of anything but the earlier encounter with Dicky.

As Vanessa walked down the lonely sidewalk, she thought that she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Sure enough, she saw the street lights illuminate the silhouette of a rather brawny man. _Where did he come from?_ She thought to herself. Naturally, she became paranoid because they were the only two people on the street at midnight in a city she barely knew. She figured she was being unreasonable and had nothing to worry about, but just in case she decided to walk in to the next open place she saw. _Shit,_ she thought to herself as she realized the only places open on the block were in the other direction.

She tried to stay calm and quickened her pace by a little bit, but not enough to be noticeable. She knew that showing fear only gave her less power. But she noticed the man was gaining speed and coming closer and closer to her. Acting from instinct, she started to speed walk, almost jog, to stay as far away from the mysterious man as possible. He maintained his pace but still seemed to be getting closer and closer.

At this point, she knew her suspicions about him proved true when he shouted, "Hey, where you going? Come on, little waitress…let's have some fun!" When he said this, she didn't look back but could easily picture the devious look he wore on his face. She dropped the things she was carrying and started running as he sprinted after her.

He managed to catch up to her, but she tried not to panic. He grabbed her shoulder, pinned her arms down, and pulled her closer so their faces were inches apart. He was a bulky man and looked like he was in his mid-30s; he smelled like alcohol and cigarettes and had a scruffy black beard to match his ruffled hair. His eyes looked bloodshot—a sign that he was definitely under the influence, making him more vulnerable to knowing right from wrong. She assumed he came from the grimy bar.

"Leave me alone, please!" She pleaded, terrified. She tried to remember the time that she was a little girl—probably eight or nine—and her dad had tried to teach her self defense strategies. She never had to use them, but always kept them in the back of her mind. Where the hell where they when she needed them? All her mind did was go blank.

"Not until we have some fun," he said, right up front and in her face, "let's go," he demanded. She quickly thought about how she should approach this—should she scream and hope someone hears? No one would be able to hear her at that distance, and by the time she tried he would already have stopped her. She decided she would have to break free of his hold and run to the nearest public place and call as much attention to herself as possible. He was pulling her in the opposite direction of civilization when she broke her hold and kneed him. He winced in pain for a brief second or two while she raced towards Becky's Bistro, screaming—her one shot at being saved, even if it was by a bunch of old people. Soon enough the man was right on her tail, and tried to grab her while she hit him and told him to "stop!" and "leave her alone!" but she didn't have a chance at outfighting him. He slapped her face and told her to cooperate, or else. She asked herself the inevitable question "or what?" but had a feeling she already knew the answer.

She was still kicking in his arms while he dragged her in the opposite direction, but suddenly she was jerked on to the cement. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach when she looked up and saw that someone had heard her brief scream and silent calls of mercy. Someone had come to save her and be her hero—whether or not the person would be successful she didn't know. All she could tell was that it was a man and he was kicking the bad guy's ass, just for her.

At first they looked pretty neck in neck, throwing punches and fighting each other off. But Vanessa's hero dominated in the next seemingly infinite minutes. One particular blow to the jaw sent the bad guy to the ground as the hero kicked and stomped at his legs. The bad guy managed to use whatever strength he had left in his wasted, beaten body to get up from the ground and run away.

The hero stood in place for a minute or two to make sure the delinquent was truly gone before approaching Vanessa. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked with pure concern showing in his voice as he helped her up from the ground.

Vanessa honestly felt horrified and shaken, but decided to put on a brave face for whoever this hero was. "I'm…fine." She said simply and quietly and she realized who her hero was. She thought maybe she was seeing things in her state of distress, but her suspicions were confirmed when she saw a smashed box of pie on the ground near where the fight had taken place. "I have to go," Vanessa stammered as she slowly backed away from the scene.

"Do you need me to walk you?" He asked, the concern not yet worn off.

"No…" Vanessa said even though it was exactly what she needed right then. "I have to go," she repeated, speechless. She then turned and quickly walked away from him.

She was afraid after what happened, and she was confused. Looking back on it, those weren't the things she should have said to the person who saved her. She didn't even say thank you. But most of all she wished she would have taken Dicky up on his offer to walk her home.

**I think maybe it was a little cliché? But whatever… I was losing momentum for writing, I have to admit but once I started I had to keep going. Sorry if the fighting scene is lacking…I tend to stay away from that kind of stuff. I watched Spiderman for ideas ;) Well this is enough babble for now (I tend to do that). New chapter soon! Have a great Easter!**


	5. Butterflies

**Hmmm…how long has it been? I'M SORRY. I fail and again apologize for how bad I am at updating! But I am going to try to write more! So again, sorry for the über long wait. Here's the chapter:**

It was Thursday morning—three days later. Vanessa hadn't seen or heard from Dicky, which was unusual since it seemed that he came to the diner nearly every day. Vanessa had been feeling bad that she hadn't had the chance to thank him for saving her. If he wasn't there, who knows what would have happened.

Other than the usual encounter with Dicky, the past three days had been relatively normal for Vanessa. She hated that the other night happened. Not so much the fact that she had been attacked, but that she couldn't save herself. Most of all, she hated that Dicky had to be the one to save her. Just before that she had decided to be strong and turn him away. They didn't have to be friends and he wouldn't get the wrong idea, but now she had to be all nice since she practically owed him her life. So much for avoiding him—even if she wasn't sure that she wanted to.

It was 8:00 a.m. and Vanessa was anticipating another long, boring day of waitressing when the person she wanted to see the most and at the same time, the least, walked in. It was Dicky; he looked like he usually did, but now a more heroic light was shed upon him in Vanessa's eyes.

"Hey!" Vanessa said a little too enthusiastically as he walked over to the counter she was standing behind, "How are you? I thought you fell in a pit or something, I don't think I've ever not seen you for three days straight since I've met you."

"Wow, you've been worrying about me? I'm flattered," he said smiling, "but I'm fine. I've just been kinda busy."

"Oh, so no pit? Damn." She said jokingly, which apparently worked since he laughed.

"No, no pit…." He said, followed by a moment of silence.

"Coffee?" She offered while he nodded, "So, hey, about the other night…I never got to thank you. You pretty much saved my life," she confided in him while pouring his coffee.

"It was no big deal, I mean my profession is beating up other guys so I'm used to it."

"And I'm sorry I ran off, I just got a little freaked out, you know?"

"I understand, and my feelings were not hurt by that, I promise. I only cried a little bit on the way home." Vanessa grinned, figuring that he would make this into something to laugh about.

"Good, that was my goal," she said playing along, "but I really do owe you."  
"You don't need to do that, it really wasn't a big deal."

"I want to owe you. That way we're even."

"We don't need to be even, I did you a favor and that's all."

"A huge favor, as in saving my life. Come on, I insist. I owe you."

After contemplating it for a second, Dicky gave in, forming a plan, "Well, if you insist…"

"Free food for a week? Including pie!" She suggested thinking that would please him for sure.

"Not quite."

"Two weeks? A month? I don't think I could go for any more than a month at the rate that you come here, I'm sorry."

"I don't want free food or pie, even though it is pretty delicious," Dicky said casually.

As he said that, Vanessa thought she knew what he wanted. "Wow, turning down free stuff? What's gotten into you?" She said trying to go around what he was getting at.

"I want a date with you. Just one date that you can be pleasant on and we can get to know each other and just have a good time. Then we'll be even."

"Dicky, I don't think—"

"Come on, you just begged me to let you owe me something. I think saving your life is worth at least one date."

"Well, my life isn't so great at the moment, so…"

"Alright, just forget it. I'll take the free food." He said, clearly annoyed.  
"Great," she said, handing his coffee to him. Dicky started walking out when Vanessa for some reason started feeling a little guilty. What would one date with the guy who saved her life hurt? She knew that she liked him, as much as she didn't want to at times. And sometimes you have to take risks, she thought.  
He had already started walking down the sidewalk when she rushed to push open the diner door and tell him she had changed her mind, "Dicky, wait!" She said while he stopped and stared at her before she said, "Just one date?"

"One date, unless I have to save you again," he confirmed.

"No funny business?"

"No funny business. And I will be the perfect gentleman," he was either promising or joking. Vanessa wasn't sure what he meant, which seemed to happen often.

"Fine," she finally said.

"Good, how about tomorrow at 7? Is that good or can you not wait until tomorrow evening? Because I can tell you're excited about this," he joked, knowing that he was probably the only excited one.

"Tomorrow is fine. We will go on one lousy date." She replied, ignoring his silly arrogance.  
"One fantastic date," he corrected in his own words.

"One decent date," she said trying to make it fair.

"One decent date and a week of free pie?" Dicky negotiated.  
"Don't push your luck."

"Not even for the guy who saved your life?"

"You are going to hold that over me forever, aren't you?"

"Are you implying that we are going to be together forever? It's a little soon for that..." He sarcastically said with a smile.  
"Good-bye, Dicky," she said as she turned to walk back inside when he stopped her.  
"Hey, shouldn't we exchange numbers or something?"

"I guess," she said as she pulled out her note pad and pen and wrote down her number, "here."

"Alright, I'll call you tonight."

"I can hardly contain my joy." She said dryly before walking back inside the diner.

...

After work the next day, Vanessa checked the clock as soon as she walked in the door—it was almost 5:30. She had an hour and a half before the date. _I have plenty of time to get ready_, she thought to herself. Normally, she would be more nervous for a first date and would be rushing if she only had ninety minutes to get ready. But with Dicky it was different. She felt a little more comfortable with him because he always saw her looking plain and at times, dingy, for work. He would be impressed seeing her in anything that wasn't her diner uniform.

Vanessa hadn't particularly looked forward to the date, but she had stopped resenting it. Maybe she should just let things happen. Even though she had been putting up a cold front whenever they had started to get closer, she wanted to let her guard down tonight and be herself. She was started to realize that there was more to Dicky than his past and decided that she should be a little friendlier towards him.  
She decided that she had a few minutes to relax before she had to get ready. She was living in a small, run-down, one-bedroom apartment with a mean and strict landlord. It was plain and didn't have anything special about it—the walls were all white, Vanessa kept the decorating simple, and she didn't even put out any pictures of loved ones. She didn't plan on staying in her apartment very long—or Lowell, really—and hoped to get a better one soon. Renovating the whole place would just make her stay longer.  
After ten or fifteen minutes of flipping through channels, Vanessa got up to get ready for the night. Preparing for the date wasn't very hard—Vanessa spent some time fixing and curling her hair, put on a little make up, and decided on wearing a floral print dress that went down to right below her knees. She thought she looked pretty good compared to the fact that she spent half of her days wearing her waitress uniform and the other half in sweats.  
By the time she was ready to go, it was 6:45. Vanessa couldn't believe it, but she was actually a little bit nervous. She probably thought it was just those instinctive first date butterflies. Then, her phone rang.  
"Hello?" She answered as she cleaned out her purse.

It was Dicky, "Hey, I'm coming now. What's your apartment number?" He asked.

"Uh, you can just wait outside my building. I'll be there." She suggested, not wanting him to know what apartment she lived in or wanting to have to show him her crappy place.

"Okay, I'll see you soon." He said before hanging up. She was shocked that he didn't try to make a joke or flirt. It was probably because he was nervous; the thought made her smile.

As Vanessa finished cleaning all the useless junk out of her purse, she discovered the mace that she bought the night after she was attacked. After putting it in the junk pile, she placed it back into her purse, deciding it wouldn't hurt to have it.

**Sorry if this is kind of short…I have the next chapter about halfway completed but I feel like if I make it all one chapter it will be too long. I hope you like it & it makes up for the months that I have been absent! Once, again let me know if there's anything you hate—too much dialogue, not clear enough, etc. I approve of constructive criticism 100%! The next chapter should be up soon, I promise! If you are still following the story, thank you tons!**


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